Chapter twenty four

Terri wakes up with a start. All night long she kept tossing and turning in her sleep. Tears stream down her cheeks as her nightmare remains fresh in her mind. She shakes her head to try and clear away her thoughts but they won't go away.

~

"No Kayla you can't go!" Terri cries out as she runs out the door after her sister. She manages to catch Kayla just as Kayla starts to open the car door. She grabs Kayla's arm and forces her to turn back around. "Please just stay here."

"I have to go Terri but I promise I will come back for you," Kayla pulls Terri into a hug as she feels tears running down her cheeks. "Don't worry I will only be gone for a little while."

Terri doesn't say anything else. She just stands there with tears in her eyes as she watches her sister get into the car and back down the driveway. She begins to cry as she watches her sister drive away. As soon as her sister was out of sight Terri runs back into the house. She locks herself in her room and begins to cry harder.

~

"Terri may I come in?" Terri looks up to see Olivia standing in the doorway. Terri quickly wipes her eyes and nods. Olivia flips the light on and walks over to the bed. "I couldn't help but hear you scream out, is everything okay Terri?" She looks up at Terri concerned.

"Yeah I just had a nightmare that's all," Terri tries to give Olivia a fake smile. "Its still pretty dark out." She yawns, looking out the window behind Olivia suddenly.

"Don't worry its almost morning," Olivia smiles warmly though she can't help but to look a little nervous as she stares out the window. She shivers and turns back to look at Terri.

"Hey are you okay Olivia?" Terri looks genuinely worried as she sees a few tears in Olivia's eyes.

"I'm fi..." Olivia starts, but she pauses as she looks back out the window, seeing her reflection staring back at her. "No Terri I'm not alright."

"What's wrong Olivia I wanna help you so please tell me what's bothering you," she touches Olivia's shoulder gently causing Olivia to look back at her.

Olivia takes a deep breath before she speaks. "I've been stuck in this...shadow realm for to long. All I've ever wanted was to be reunited with my sister and to be set free from this place." She pauses and wipes the tears from her eyes. "But now something is wrong I can feel it. My sister is in danger. I don't know where she is but I know I have to save her no matter what."

Terri tries to smile as she looks into Olivia's eyes. "Olivia I'm sure everything will be fine. We will go find your sister and the rest of my friends and then we will all get out of the shadow realm together."

"You make it sound so simple but its not. Everything is beginning to change. Everything that has been imprisoned in the shadow realm is being set free," Olivia cries as she speaks.

Terri pulls Olivia to her, letting her place her head on her shoulder. They sit there silently as Olivia continues to cry. They had no idea how much time has passed but when Terri looks back towards the window, she notices it is starting to turn light out. As she keeps staring out the window she begins to see a dark shadow moving across the window pane. The dark shadow slowly begins to form into an old woman. The woman looks into the window at Terri hatefully as she begins clawing at the window trying to get into the room.

"Olivia she can't get into the room can she?" As Olivia slowly turns her head towards the window she can't help but to shiver again.

"No she can't get in, but if she is here then more spirits will be here soon."

Olivia stands up and walks over to the window. The woman in the window hisses slightly as she tries to speak as her fingernails rake against the glass. Even though she doesn't say it out loud she feels sorry for the old woman's spirit.

"Olivia..." Terri starts not really sure how to say what she was thinking. Before she could say anything else the spirit let's out a final high pitched shriek before disappearing. "What exactly was that about?" Terri stares at the window slightly afraid. As she looks at the window she can see where the woman's fingernails had clawed at the window leaving marks on the glass. "That woman wasn't a normal ghost was she?"

"No she wasn't she has become a ghoul," Olivia sighs as she turns back around to face Terri again. "When a spirit has been stuck in the shadow realm for a long time they begin to go crazy and turn into a ghoul. There are some spirits that have turned into much worse things then ghouls." She sighs and tries to give Terri a warm smile. "Let's go see if Megan is up yet." She tries to change the subject.

Terri smiles back and follows Olivia out of the room.

"When are we going to rescue Julie?" Terri wonders curiously as they walk down the hallway.

Olivia stops suddenly, turning around to face Terri with slightly worried eyes. "We will go get her once I am fully rested and my powers have been restored. I still feel a little weak."

Olivia turns, quickly trying to hide the worry on her face. Terri can tell that there was something else bothering Olivia but she decides to let it go. If Olivia wanted to tell her what was bothering her then Terri figures she will tell her when she was ready to.

Terri gives Olivia a warm smile. "You know I'm here for you if you ever wanna talk to someone I'm sure I can help you."

"Terri..." Olivia pauses as she looks up into Terri's eyes. "There is something I have to tell you."

She takes a deep breath as she tries to collect her thoughts. Before she can tell Terri anything however they hear footsteps coming towards them. The girls look up to see Megan walking towards them a bright smile on her face.

"I went to see if you were up yet but you weren't in your room. I was getting slightly worried but I'm glad to see that you are still here," Megan exclaims, giving Terri a slight hug.

"Of course I'm still here where else would I have gone?" Terri asks as she hugs Megan back. Megan looks up at her suddenly with sad eyes.

"I don't know when I seen you weren't in your room I began to panic. I thought something terrible had happened to you Terri," Terri can see how worried she had been as she looks down at Megan, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I got really worried when I seen the claw marks on the window."

"A ghoul was trying to get into the room this morning," Terri says simply. She begins rubbing Megan's back. "Don't worry Megan I'm not going to abandon you. I will always be right here."

As Terri tries to comfort Megan, Olivia suddenly feels tears forming in her own eyes and has to turn away from them suddenly.

"You promise?" Megan asks in a little girl voice. Terri smiles as she looks at Megan.

"Yes I promise," she tells her, pulling Megan against her.

Terri can feel her sleeve being soaked with tears as Megan begins to cry softly. The girls walk back into the living room and sit down on the couch.

"Olivia how long will it take for you to have all of your powers restored?" Terri asks wearily as Olivia stands up and walks over to look out the window.

"I'm not sure how long it will take before my powers are fully restored," Olivia sighs and stares out the window, staring out at the empty streets. "There is something I must tell you." Olivia slowly turns around to face the two girls. "I..." She pauses for a moment. For just a brief moment, fear flashes across her face. "I'm scared. I've been stuck in the shadow realm for so long I feel like I'm beginning to change."

"What do you mean Olivia?" Megan asks, looking slightly scared and puzzled. She turns and looks towards Terri for help but Terri looks just as confused as she does. Olivia sighs and turns back towards the window once more.

"Remember the ghoul we seen earlier Terri?" Olivia continues to stare blankly out the window.

As she glances up towards the sky, she notices that it has begun to grow darker out.

"How can I forget, that thing was crazy," Terri pauses and looks up at Olivia suddenly. "Are you trying to tell us that you are turning into a ghoul?"

Olivia turns back around and looks at Terri with saddened eyes. "Not exactly I can feel myself starting to change though. I barely feel human anymore but I'm not going to turn into one of those ghouls or anything else anytime soon." Olivia states as Terri walks over to her. "I'm running out of time though. If I'm not freed from here soon I'm afraid there is a much worse fate for me then becoming a ghoul."

"Olivia what has got you so afraid?" Terri watches as Olivia shakes with fear.

"Terri I've been stuck in the shadow realm for centuries. After so long in here you begin to change. Your soul becomes tainted. I don't know exactly what is going to happen to me. That is why I'm so scared I don't want anything to happen to me." Terri looks at Olivia sympathetically as Olivia speaks.

Even Megan begins to feel a little sorry for Olivia.

"Look Olivia we won't let that happen to you we will find a way to save you." Terri says reassuringly to Olivia. Olivia looks up at Megan and smiles weakly. "We just need to save Julie and find Sara first."

Terri silently wonders if Sara was okay. She hasn't seen her since she came into the shadow realm. She hopes that wherever Sara is she is okay.

~

Sara lands on the ground softly. She raises up and looks around trying to figure out where she was. The last thing she remembers is taking Chris's hand and beginning to shadow travel. But then something went wrong. Somehow Chris and Lexi disappeared leaving Sara floating around in the darkness alone. Sara begins to shiver with fear as she looks around her. She had landed in some creepy part of the forest. She looks up towards the sky but the tree branches were to close together making the forest seem unnaturally darker then it was. She starts walking to her right not sure where she was going but hoping she was heading in the right direction. After a while she begins to feel even more lost then before. She pauses and sits down to rest on an old log. She places her arms on her knees and lays her head down resting as she tries to figure out what she should do.

"Sssaarra..." She looks up suddenly as she hears her name. Not twenty feet away from her was a ghost hovering slightly above the ground. "Ssarraa..." The ghost hisses her name again. Sara looks at the ghost curiously.

She stands up suddenly as the ghost begins floating towards her.

"What do you want with me?" Sara stammers out, her voice slightly shaky as she speaks.

The ghost pauses again, looking at her with a painful look on its face. For just a brief moment the painful look goes away and Sara sees that the ghost is that of a young woman in her mid thirties.

"Emily is that you what's wrong?"

"Run ssarraa," the ghost hisses, her face twists up in pain once again. Sara can't seem to move however, she feels frozen in place.

All Sara can do is look at the ghost curiously.

The ghost begins to change slightly.

"Emily..." Sara begins as the ghost drops its head and looks at the ground.

Sara begins to walk towards the ghost slowly, cautiously. She never takes her eyes off the ghost as she approaches it. When she is about five feet away, she pauses and looks hesitantly at the ghost. It looks back up at her, but what is looking at her now is not the same Emily she had known. This was something much worse. The ghost lets out a painful wail and floats towards Sara. Sara turns to run but the ghost was already upon her. It lunges at Sara, slashing its claw like fingers against Sara's back, scratching and tearing at Sara's back.

"Ahh, stop it, what's wrong with you Emily?" Sara cries out as she tries to run.

The ghost let's out another wail as it keeps clawing at Sara's back. Sara keeps running, her back beginning to sting as she feels the claws tearing her skin open. She feels blood beginning to run down her back but she doesn't have time to worry about it. All she cares about is trying to get away from the ghost. She is so distracted by trying to get the ghost off her back that she doesn't see the tree root sticking out of the ground just ahead of her. The tip of her shoe slips under the root and she falls forward. She begins rolling down a small hill, finally coming to a stop when her back slams into a tree.

"Sara forgive me," Sara looks up to see Emily standing in front of her.

There were tears in Emily's eyes. Sara begins to feel herself becoming angry. She begins to glow as she stares at Emily's ghost.

"Why did you just attack me?" Sara screams, the anger inside of her becoming stronger.

Her hands glow brighter as white hot flames slowly envelope them. Emily stares at the flames and smiles.

"Please Sara I can't control what is happening to me. This place is changing me," She can feel herself beginning to change once more. Sara watches as Emily's fingers grow longer, turning into claws once more. Her face twists up in pain. "Sara please help me." Emily cries out, fighting whatever was taking control of her.

"How am I supposed to help you?" Sara frowns, confused by what Emily was telling her, her hands still glowing though the flames had died down.

"Just use the flames Sara," she begins to lose control once more.

Sara's mind flashes back to when she had helped Amber that night at the cemetery. She had been glowing then too and pointed her hands at Thomas and Riley. A loud scream interrupts her thoughts and draws her attention back to Emily. Sara raises her arms up protectively in front of her.

"Forgive me Emily," Sara whispers as a burst of white flames leaves her finger tips and attaches itself to Emily.

Sara watches as the flames begin to spread all over Emily, beginning to dissolve her. Emily smiles at Sara, finally at peace before she disappears. Sara can feel her own body growing tired and she falls to the ground.

"Sara!"

The last thing she hears before she passes out exhausted was her uncles voice calling her name.